The Hai Phong Investment Promotion Conference, with theme “Hai Phong - a Destination for Investors”, will be held on September 19 and bring government leaders and nearly 500 enterprise delegates together.

The city will use the conference to explain its development strategy and its commitment to improving the investment environment.

The conference will provide a platform for central agencies, international organizations, and domestic and foreign enterprises to meet and discuss investing in the northern port city.

The Hai Phong People’s Committee will announce the establishment of the Trade, Tourism, and Investment Promotion Center, connecting the city’s administration and enterprises.

The conference will provide enterprises with information on the city relating to trade, tourism, and its investment environment, promote administrative reform in investment and business activities, implement supportive solutions, and resolve problems facing enterprises.

Within the framework of the conference, the People’s Committee will present investment certificates to LG Innotek, specializing in electronic components and micro camera modules with total investment of $550 million at the Trang Due Industrial Park, and to the Flat Group from Hong Kong, whose solar glass production project at the Dinh Vu Industrial Zone has investment of $200 million.

The conference will also witness a signing ceremony for a cooperative memorandum between Vingroup and the Saigon Newport Corporation over the construction, investment and terminals business at the Hai Phong International Gateway Port.

Hai Phong leads in FDI attraction in Vietnam. In the first eight months of this year it attracted approximately $2.02 billion, accounting for 14 per cent of the country’s total, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

During the period the port city reported 30 newly-licensed projects and 21 existing projects registering to add capital, most notably the LG Display Hai Phong project, licensed on April 15 with registered capital of $1.5 billion.

According to a recent report from real estate consultants CBRE, Hai Phong is expected to become a gateway connecting Vietnam with the world given its major advantages and potential.

Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong have the two most significant seaports in Vietnam. “Although throughput capacity at Ho Chi Minh City’s port was only equivalent to a quarter of Hong Kong’s and one-sixth of Singapore’s in 2014, and Hai Phong’s capacity is about 50 per cent of that of Ho Chi Minh City, annual throughput for the ports is growing,” CBRE’s analysts wrote.

“In order to become a local hub in the near future and a regional hub in the long run, it is critical that Hai Phong address the issues of administrative procedures and transparency as well as pay attention to improving labor quality as growing FDI is poured into the country as well as the city and that infrastructure is developed.”